A day in the life of adoption paperwork

We are in the process of updating our Home Study. It expires in May. 

Therefore, we have been knee deep in paperwork again!! 

What does that even mean? Paperwork? 

I'm sure you hear adoptive parent say all the time "there's SO MUCH paperwork!" 

Allow me to enlighten you.

For those of you who think our paperwork journey looks like this, you are sadly mistaken. 

Oh how I WISH it was simply sitting down and working through mounds of paperwork! 

Instead, it looks a little bit more like this.

This.....

Sometimes this.....

And sadly.... At times, it looks like this lady! 

Journey with me for a moment.

One of the 20ish things we had to do for "paperwork" was get a physical done by a physician. 

We pulled up the email. Printed out the forms from our agency. Contacted our hospital (which no longer does physicals). Contacted a new place to get the physicals done and they said "go to your old hospital, print out your records, then come here and we can do it." 

Easy cheesy huh.

8 am. 

We pack the kids up. 

Drop Miller off at daycare.

 Head to our old hospital to get our records. 

Unload Chip. 

Sit in waiting room. 

Get the records. Back in the car. 

Stop by the house to get any last minute paperwork so that there are no questions and we have all needed info. Drive to the new place. 

By now it's nearing 11 o'clock. 

Sit in waiting room for ONE HOUR. 

12 o'clock. 

Get called back. 

Vision test. Blood pressure. Etc. Etc

Chip is getting hungry.

Into another room we go.

Sit there for approx 20 min.

Chip is screaming by now Bc he's hungry and sleepy and has been in the car seat for a really long time.

Nurse walks in. 

"Ma'am, I'm sorry but the doctor says she can't sign this physical because these tests were done at an outside facility." 

A conversation takes place.

I tell Lee to just leave and take Chip home to grab a bottle. 

Lee leaves. 

I try to work out the details.

I Sign another medical release form.

Back in the room.

Doctor comes in to finish the physical and draw some blood. 

She isn't pro children or pro adoption.

She makes some less than nice comments. I would post them but seriously, they would outrage you.  

I don't have the energy to even respond to her. 

I'm almost in tears.

She finishes.

Lee returns.

He goes in the room to finish his physical and get blood drawn. 

I feed Chip.

It's 1:15

We finally leave the medical facility, WITHOUT completed physicals. We leave our phone number and ask them to call us when they have everything they need or need us to do anything else. 

And that my friends, is the road to (almost) filling out ONE piece of paperwork! 

Don't get me wrong. Malachi is totally totally worth it! 

I simply blogged this to enlighten you into a day in the life of adoption paperwork! 

On to the next form we go :-) 

Actually we are praying for that "form" to be complete! 

Our car on the way to doctor office

Happy camper for most of the morning!! 

Encouraged

Last weekend Kari Jobe came to my home church. The worship music was great.

Kari began to sing the song "Healer."

 

As she sang the words:

"Nothing is impossible for You

Nothing is impossible

Nothing is impossible for You

You hold my world in Your hands

 

I lost it.

I wept. Ugly cry.

I prayed hard. I wanted so hard to be able to sing those words and believe them.

But in that moment my faith fell short.

I felt like it was impossible for God to bring Malachi home.

I felt like this whole journey was impossible.

 

To y'all, the above picture may only resemble a mere table in a local diner.

To me... it represents a journey.

 

I have sat at this table and the one next to it several times.

I meet with a group of local moms who are/have adopted from Ethiopia.

We call it ET mom's coffee night :)

We journey together.

We all "get it."

I am so thankful to be surrounded by mothers who are like-minded and who can truly relate to the emotions I am feeling in the journey.

 

 

The above picture was taken as I sent a text message to some other "moms" saying I needed a coffee night!

We met together on Monday night of this week.

I vented to them about my frustrations and hopelessness in the wait.

When I left that night, although I was encouraged by them, I was still feeling pretty hopeless in the journey itself.

 

Then the next few days God began to open the floodgates!

 

We have had a lot of REFERRALS go out this week!!

It's been way more than we have seen in months!

I cannot tell you how excited that has made me.

It has given me the hope I needed.

 

*A referral is when a family is matched with a child. When a family receives a referral, other families on the waiting list move up a spot closer to being matched with their child.

For example: When an infant boy referral goes out, all the other families in the infant boy line move up a spot. Got it?

 

I am proud to say that we are number 63 on the "unofficial" waiting list for an infant boy and #36 for a toddler boy.

 

I know that 63 does not sound exciting to those of you who have been following us for a long time.

In fact, I announced LAST June that we were #66, so it sounds like we have only moved 3 spots in almost a year.

That's not the case.

Since it's an unofficial list, some families are not on the list and other families have changed their parameters (age range, gender, etc.)

Over the course of the months, we moved back up into the 70s and I stopped announcing our number because it hurt my heart so bad!

But today, for the FIRST time, we are #63!

 

Praying hard that we get out of the 60s soon!!

 

Please continue to pray for us, for Malachi and for Ethiopia.

We are waiting on the Lord.

 

On Monday night when I was talking with other ET moms, the common question came up:

Do you feel like God is telling y'all to continue waiting in Ethiopia program or to switch gears to a different program?

We honestly feel like God is telling us to stay the course.

 

That night after Kari Jobe, I laid in my bed and downloaded the song "Healer" onto my phone.

A wise woman once told me:

"Say it until you believe it.

Then say it because you believe it!"

 

So I have been listening to that song over and over and over!

Click Here for the link to it if you've never heard it.